Lewisburg Area SD outlines inclusive-practices plan, special-education and ELL supports

At a Lewisburg Area School District working session, Director of Special Education Brad Richmond and counseling staff presented Goal 3 of the district’s comprehensive plan, summarizing current special-education enrollment and planned changes to classroom supports and monitoring for English-language learners.

The presentation matters because it lays out the district’s plan to serve 322 non‑gifted special‑education students, proposes changes to in‑district classroom structures and staffing, and describes efforts intended to reduce unnecessary special‑education evaluations by expanding Tier 1/2 supports and structured intervention time.

Richmond said the district’s December 1 child count showed 322 non‑gifted special‑education students and provided a building‑by‑building breakdown of services. "We have a total of 322 students," Richmond said, noting that specific learning disability is the largest single category. He described changes the district will implement for 2025–26: maintaining a CSU autistic support classroom at Kelly Elementary, shifting one emotional‑support teacher to a combined emotional‑support/supplemental learning‑support role, and adjusting responsibilities at the middle and high school levels to better match staff expertise to student need.

The district plans to expand capacity for supplemental learning support so teachers do not duplicate remediation already provided elsewhere. Richmond said the aim is to keep students in classroom instruction when appropriate while using Win Time — a scheduled intervention period for reading and math — to provide targeted remediation. "Win Time ... is intervention time for math and reading," he said. He said some students previously identified for special education have shown measurable progress through these interventions and thus avoided or delayed evaluation.

The presentation also described off‑site placements currently used when in‑district options are insufficient, including IU programs, AEDY (alternative education for disruptive youth), DTAC (Diversified Treatment Alternative Centers) in Sunbury, Soaring Heights locations, and others. Richmond said those placements remain part of the district’s continuum for students whose needs cannot be met in Lewisburg classrooms.

Kathy (staff) summarized English‑language‑learner (ELL) support: the district reported about 80 students overall with 21 at Kelly Elementary, and the others spread across buildings. Kathy noted that many students who exit direct ELL instruction remain on two years of monitoring and that the district is reviewing enrollment and family‑communication processes to reduce language barriers at intake. "Our website has a spot in the left hand corner where you can change to language for about 50 different languages," Kathy said, adding the district will evaluate whether enrollment documents have the same accessibility.

Board members asked about day‑to‑day placement and time in pull‑out learning‑support classes. Richmond said placement is individualized and many elementary learning‑support students are itinerant, spending roughly 20 percent or less of the school day outside the general classroom for specialized instruction.

Staff described professional development already delivered or planned: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) training for K–5 teachers, a cohort attending a virtual UDL conference in July, and a planned trauma‑informed plan with professional development for counselors and administrators. Richmond described plans to form building inclusion committees beginning with special‑education teachers, distributing a survey to gauge readiness and inform next steps for bringing regular‑education teachers into an inclusive framework.

Members of the board and attendees raised concerns and suggestions about classroom placement and imagery, background checks and work crews for abatement or renovation work, and parent supports for ELL families. The council discussed referral options for adult ESL and GED classes in the area and noted local providers like the IU and community libraries as resources.

District next steps included advertising a proposed emotional‑support/supplemental learning‑support position, finalizing the inclusion‑committee survey and rolling out the trauma‑informed plan to staff. Richmond and counseling staff said the initiatives are intended to reduce unnecessary special‑education evaluations, increase instructional capacity, and improve family access to services.

The presentation concluded with an invitation to board members and community partners to follow upcoming UDL and inclusion activities; staff said specific timelines and job postings would appear in coming weeks.